Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Photo Blog #6: Birds of the same feather

The Lone Pigeon pondered..
' should I or not.. perch on the railing
I live near the  river.
The river is nice and clean.
Nestled on both sides are huge arrays of farm lands, 
with walk and bike ways for you and me.

Everyday birds comes by, hither tither

to see not only Mr. River. 
Perched on the railings,
some wading through the water, 
they await.. yes, await
for me or you 
to take their picture. ^^
-안나 로즈
Mr. Lone Pigeon counted clockwise and what not.. but finally mustered itself up
and marched towards the barrier.

Noticing the attempt.. lil birdies huddled much closer to each other

but finally relented..and waited for the big birdie to join the group.

Meanwhile.. Mama Duck and Papa Duck lead their young ones through the water

leaving their eldest daughter behind with a haughty suitor

perhaps..so that they could discuss a brighter future?

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Photo Blog #5: Heavenly Food in Chilgok

We love food, in great quantities or small, new and not. We can't let the chance slip through our fingers without trying even some of the local best dishes as well. The opportune moment knocked at our door step when our good friend Sunny took us to one of the Korean restaurants. Unfortunately, I didn't get the name of the shop. But it was located in a small up hill beside the main road in Chilgok. It's location is not that hard to miss either (provided you could read the Hangul lettering hanging just above the shop's door).

So what did we eat? Sunny took the lead in ordering our food for lunch.

For starters, chicken and cabbage salad with vegetables on the side. It was absolutely good and tasty!



Sunny and I taking a pose :D
The resto has several expandable rooms and you can eat there together with your friends in privacy. There's no chair by the way so you'll need to practice sitting on the floor instead (with your legs tucked under the table or folded).



Glass noodles with peppers, mushrooms and some seasoning. The look as well as the taste reminded me of our own pancit in the Philippines.

Our starters were soon joined by fried vegetables (eggplant, potato, green chilli ..yes green chilli and squash) with its dipping vinegar sauce. 


 And these were quickly followed by a whole array of side dishes.. a good prep for our main dish.

Pickled egg plant on the left and steamed green chilli in coconut I think


 The bright red dish in a white plate is the infamous kimchi which is almost a requisite to all kinds of dishes. 


I sort of giggled when I saw this was also served. Yes... dilis (anchovy) glazed with light vinegar and bell peppers. Yummy!!



We were each given a bowl of steamed rice (which was a whole lot better than Jasmine I say), a clear cold bean sprout soup.

 And the main dish was served!! Woohooo!!Sunny called it "Black Fish" stew served in an overwhelmingly huge platter. It had potatoes, chilli, chives, chilli.. did I say chilli? Yes, you can pretty much guess that the dish was strikingly hot in color as well in flavor (and I meant that in a very good way). The black fish, which is the English name for it, is huge! Very big and has tons of tender, really tender and melts in your mouth kind of meat. I must confess that I hardly eat any fish but I can eat this dish everyday!



 Hubby serves up our friend with a spoonful of black fish meat.
 This is how the meat looks like up close. It's very soft and tender, but not so much that it falls apart kind of way. It has a sort of sweet nice taste to it despite the strong chilli hovering over the taste buds.


Our desert were quite simple but very nice nonetheless. The photo above is a sweet soft dough cookie I think and the other (sorry, no photo) was a cloudy rice drink (like our 'am' with a little bit of sugar). Not bad. Not bad at all.

It cost us about 45k won (and you may say it was quite pricey) but really, it is worth every penny.


Salon Day Yehey!

Summer here in Korea is at its full swing. Everyone is feeling the muggy, unmerciful high humidity and sthe scorching heat of the sun. My situation wasn't any better. I had long hair and I didn't want to wear it up or do the Korean style. I preferred to wear it straight without any folds or what have you.

So finally last Friday, I went to a salon together with my husband in Chilgok. It was quite a distance but it didn't bother me because I love sightseeing. The salon, where my husband is a regular, is located on a second floor along the main road. It was a huge and dainty beauty parlor with a nail posh section just beside the door. The boss, I believe, immediately recognized my husband and he motioned for us to seat at the lounge. Hubby explained we both needed hair cut plus hair color. The boss brought with him the book of 'hair colors' and suggested that we both have a darker shade of brown to hide the grey strands. We both nodded and then the boss went straight to work.

Nail posh section and a very comfy lounge area for customers



 Hubby's hair cut and color were done both by the boss. It took the sojangnim (boss) only about 15 or less minutes to get the kind of cut my husband wanted. Before I knew it, I was led by another staff member to a seat fronting a huge mirror. I had only a straight cut, nothing more nothing less. I should have asked for the latest Korean hair flair but decided against it. After all, I still preferred my hair long and straight. Maybe next time I could go for some twirls and actual hair bangs -- laughs out loud----.




Hair Color

Hubby sporting a Korean expression while I take pose with my hair capped with solution.

I liked the way they colored our hair. It wasn't messy and there were no screeching pain in my scalp. They were very careful and almost precise I have to say. Unlike in Manila, this shop had its own way of applying the coloring solution to the hair. Instead of flipping the hair over, they started from the outer strands and worked their way towards the inner layer of hair. They weren't thrifty either with the solution. I checked myself in the mirror and it sure looked like every strand of my crowning glory was being taken good care of the salon. Pretty neat, right?

After the solution was applied, one of the staff motioned us to sit at the hair steam lounge area (for lack of better word to call it). We were given cups of iced cold oranges to drink and magazines to browse. My husband told me that the shop also provides glasses of wine to drink. But of course, it was later in the day and we didn't want to get tipsy on our way back home. The shop (and I think like in other salons in SK) has wifi where customers can browse the net on their smart phones for free. 

After 20 or less minutes, our hair was done and we were ready for some more action. 

The lady wearing the black shirt attended my hair. She blow dried my hair using two driers in one hand. Amazing isn't it? She's the type of girl you wouldn't want to mess with. She is very serious, dedicated and very good at her work. Kudos to you lady!

Without much ado, here's the result:
Shiny and healthy hair smiling back at you!

The hair cut cost around 5k won and 10k I think for my hair color since it was quite long. (I'll have to get back at this part of thread and ask my husband the actual cost lol). All in all, the price wasn't that bad considering their did a very good job and you get a sort of royal Korean treat.

:D




Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Photo Blog #4: The Food We Make and Love to Eat.

Some of the comfort food we - hubby and moi- make and indulge ourselves with.


#1 Our mini burgers! Made from 100% good lean ground beef, with lettuce, cheddar jack cheese, onions, pickles and more. It was tad difficult to find a hamburger buns. Most stores don't really carry this kind of bread (unless you feel like getting a bulk of it at Costco), so we just simply settled with small buns instead. The one we got was actually good and freshly baked. Bon appetit!



#2 Bakes taters. The potatoes we have seen so far here in SK were huge and of good quality. We bought about a kilo which cost us nearly 3000 won I think. Since we had a hankering for some slob of sour cream and cheese, we baked our taters and sprinkled them with chives.


#3 The baked tater is perfect with steak. I never really eat rare steak but this one was actually good and tasty. The Koreans really know how to produce good and tasty meat!


#4 WE love to bake, even while we were still in the Philippines. Brownies is one of our faves, mixed with good ol' walnuts.

# 5 Yes! Nachos and we love them as well. With smoldering jalapeno and salsa and delectable cheese and sour cream and guacamole on the side.. Yes, bring them on!








Kakao Talk, yeah baby!


Just a quick rev about a messenger:

Living abroad has a lot of perks. You get to meet new people, immerse with their culture, dine at good ol' traditional restaurants and let's not forget, ways of keeping in touch with your loved ones. Our friends, Sunny and David, introduced us to a messenger application that is absolutely free and very easy to use. It's called, "Kakao Talk."

It's similar to Yahoo messenger, gmail chat, FB chat and Viber but several notches above them. This is by far the coolest and glitch free messenger I have used so far.  


Q: How do I install this application to my phone?
Kakao Profile on my smart phone.

First thing you ought to have is an internet connection. For smart phones, go over to your play store and search for Kakao Talk. It only takes a few seconds to install the application. Launch the program through your phone. I think you may have to fill out your name and other details such as your phone. The verification code will be automatic and before you know it, you will be typing away your messages for your friends.It is that easy.
KakaoTalk Icon on my phone

Q: How can I add my contacts?

The contacts you have on your phone will appear in your Kakako Friends' list. You can also invite others to join you and experience a good messenger in action.
Some of my Kakao friends

Q: What if I don't have a smart phone?
Easy breezy! You can use your computer or laptop to access Kakao Talk. In my case, I have installed the application to my lappy as well. I can receive my friends and hubby's messages both on phone and computer at the same time. There is no need to log out from either. 

Kakao on my lappy
Q: Have I encountered any problems?
Nope. It is so far a very sturdy application unlike Viber which has just been hacked by a terrorist group. See the article for yourself. Viper hacked by Syrian Electronic Army.

Q: Are there any cool things that the messenger has?
Yes! You can add in your photo as your avatar or display photo (dp). There is a selection of alert tones for messages which are all so totally cute! Kakao Talk has a number of cute smileys you can use.

You can also send and receive photos, files, documents and even music from your Kakao chatmates without hassles.


Q:  Would I recommend this to others?
Definitely! This is an application worth downloading!








Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Photo Blog #3: And I thought they would never make it here.

I miss the Philippines, my family and friends....and yes Food. Good thing though there are stores (Costco is one) that house Pinoy products.


Now, it maybe an American company but I grew up with this name. I have a sweet tooth,
and Goldilocks will always remind me of their glazed and sweetened (sometimes over the top) cakes and rolls. It was luck finding this food though. Care for some spring rolls?

One of the popular products i n the Philippines, but I unfortunately have never tried it myself.

OK ka ba tyan? I love yakult and my dad buys this almost every week. Like any other kid born in the 80s, I would have one in my lunch box almost everyday and had one of it after school. I wonder if any of those old ladies with beamed hats still sell them there.


One of the Philippine's pride is the delectable mangoes.
I love mangoes ( especially the green ones with bagoong on the side). The dry sweetened mango is still a popular delicacy in the Philippines and it has successfully made it here in Daegu or in any part (I assume) of SK.
I have to say though that a box of it is quite expensive.

I have yet to try this. I bet this has a quite unique in flavor . And as a proud Pinoy, I say, this must be good.
#